


The Time That Is Given To Us

by writerllofllworlds



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Adventure, Angst, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Canon-Typical Violence, Domestic Avengers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It, Fluff, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Irondad, Marvel Universe, Original Character(s), Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Time Travel, Violence, spiderson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-07-10 11:48:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19905226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerllofllworlds/pseuds/writerllofllworlds
Summary: "Certainty of death, small chance of success. What are we waiting for?"Beneath her, far below, the structure of the Tower creaked and groaned. She had to fix this before it toppled into the streets of Manhattan and killed thousands of people. Everything rode on her shoulders. As her teammates battled outside the very windows she had just passed, she had to find a way to save all of humanity.Humanity was so fucked.





	1. Certainty of Death

**Author's Note:**

> "Certainty of death, small chance of success. What are we waiting for?"
> 
> My new story!!! Get excited y'all.
> 
> Currently it says ten chapters. We'll see. But yes, this is a story centered in the MCU about one of my beloved OC's. You will notice several (MANY) Canon divergences in this story from the current time line, but after Endgame no one should complain about that. 
> 
> Each chapter has a title derived from a quote from Lord of the Rings because I'm a nerd and it's a nice way to tie them all together in more then just content (like the Nothing's Gone Forever Only Out of Place-Mary Poppins). 
> 
> I hope you enjoy! This will be my first longer fic!
> 
> Get hyped! Thank you lovely readers!

Prologue

_Certainty of Death_

The Tower wasn’t supposed to be one fire. Of course, her existence had never really listened to the supposed to and should haves. In fact, it seemed that for better or for worse, she was an unfortunate exception.

Delightful.

The Tower, however, wasn’t _supposed_ to be collapsing around her. It has stood so long in the face of all the turmoil in their world. Through the aliens that rocked New York to Ultron to the Blip. Even after Tony sold it and moved upstate, it remained empty with no person offering enough money to buy it. After he had died, she had bought it back, never wanting to live in the Compound again without his constant presence. Now, as she stumbled up the stairs, flames licking her heels, she felt an awful realization that this place – this home that she knew like the back of her hand – was going to burn to the ground. 

She coughed, wishing that she could physically will the smoke out of her lungs as she forced the door on the landing open, the scream of frustration tearing through her throat burning almost as much as the tears leaving clear tracks through her scorched flesh. The door slammed shut behind her and she used the booming sound to spurn her forward. She tripped through the pristine lounge, tearing her eyes away from the couches and towering windows that overlooked the New York skyline that she knew so well. Ripping her gaze from the sparkling floors, still white and spotless, she willed herself on.

God, she hated herself. Darcy was down, the systems were all disengaged, and the elevators weren’t working.

Fucking elevators.

Stumbling through the science department used to make her so excited, but as her vision began to blur and she kept missing turns, dread filled her. She owned this building; how on earth did she not know her way around? She’d lived here for nine years, dammit!

Nine years? Had it really been that long since the Avengers first began? Geez.

Finally, she arrived at the door to Tony’s lab. Taking the small device from her pocket, she attached it to the closed entryway and turned it on. Three seconds passed and the door opened slowly – too slowly – and mechanically. She raised a quick ‘thank you’ to Fitz for his amazing brain and shimmied through the small crevice afforded to her.

It had to be here. She hadn’t entered this place in almost two years (seven, technically) and was already regretting her decision, whether it was made in mourning or not. She had no idea where anything was anymore and swore loudly. The warning lights blared red and would have been giving her a headache if she didn’t already have one.

She began to rummage through the many desks and designs, hopefully for some remnant of the hypotheses. They were the only thing that might give them a fighting chance. She had an hour, tops, before her house went up in smoke, and maybe two hours before the world ended. There had to be an answer here.

She hated Thanos, but in that moment she hated him more than she ever had. He had taken Earth’s greatest defenders. Natasha would have known what to do. Tony would have known what to do.

“Come on,” she muttered. “Give me something, here.”

Beneath her, far below, the structure of the Tower creaked and groaned. She had to fix this before it toppled into the streets of Manhattan and killed thousands of people. Everything rode on her shoulders. As her teammates battled outside the very windows she had just passed, she had to find a way to save all of humanity.

Humanity was so fucked.

Two years. Two years since the Blip was reversed and the world returned to some form of normal. Two years of recovery and therapy and healing and what? It ended like this? With her suffocating or burning to death inside her own home while her best friends and fiancé died risking their lives against a cosmic being of unimaginable proportions? She was supposed to have gotten married next month. She was supposed to have walked down the aisle in a beautiful backless white wedding gown and heels long enough to poke someone’s eye out. She was supposed to go on a honeymoon to Europe and see Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower.

Could the universe just let her be? Just for a little while?

Man, this is what Tony must have felt like. No wonder the man clocked out of the hero gig, settled down, and had a kid after the Snap. The hero gig was awful. Screaming fans and statues in your name were nothing compared to this horrible weight.

Her bloody hands were staining all the papers scattered across the tables. Her crimson fingerprints were left on beakers and broken computers. This was a forensic scientists wet dream. If someone wanted to frame her for a murder, this was the place to be. Not that she would survive long enough to be framed. Not that anyone would survive long enough to frame her.

Focus. She needed to focus. Geez Louise.

The sound of a familiar sling ring echoed through the silent lab and she whirled around to glare at Stephen as he stumbled through the portal. “Really? Why didn’t I just ride with you? I fucking climbed fifty flights of stairs!”

He grabbed her shoulders, his wide eyes creating no room for humor. Immediately, she sobered. “What. What did you find?”

“I did it,” he gasped, and she noticed the crumbled sheet of paper in his hands. It looked like a page from a book-

“No,” she swallowed, tears stinging her eyes. “No, you said it was impossible. Couldn’t be done. You said there was no way!”

“That’s what I thought; that’s what Wong told me – what everyone told me. But I did some research. Tony was able to figure time travel out in a single night, but the Avengers used tech and science to go back in time.” Stephen tightened his grip on her arms. “Magic, crazy as it sounds, might be more reliable.”

Her shaking hands settled on his wrists. “Are you telling me that this will work?”

Don’t give me hope, Strange. Don’t give me hope where there is none.

“I’m telling you that you can only change the one thing,” Stephen bore a hold into her head with his stare. “No arguments, no fly by quips. Nothing. You do it and you say these words – they’ll trigger the eye so that I can preform the spell to bring you back. Okay?”

Two minutes ago, she had nearly been at her wits end and contemplating how many breaths she would take before the end. Now, the one person who had believed in her at the beginning of al this nonsense, had an answer.

She could do it. She could save them.

“Okay,” she nodded firmly. “How long will I be gone?”

“From the present? Five minutes at most. Barely any time at all.”

But there was something in his eyes that said differently. Steve was only supposed to have been gone for five seconds and he never came back – or at least didn’t come back the way they had known him. Natasha was supposed to come back after a minute, and she didn’t do that either. Stephen looked at her like he was trying his hardest to keep the smile on his face from appearing fake, and achieving the opposite.

She swallowed. “I’m not coming back, am I?”

“Fury-,”

A long sigh escaped her lips and she nodded, resigned and accepting. Of course. “Yeah.”

“Hey,” he grabbed her shoulders again. “We don’t know anything about this. I literally whipped that spell up fifteen minutes ago. There’s a chance you’ll come back just fine and everything will be alright.”

She didn’t want to know how small the chance was. She already felt the dream creeping through her like the chill of the first winter morning. “Will you tell him?”

Stephen blinked once in confusion, but something in her eyes must have conveyed her wish. He looked at her sadly, but nodded all the same.

A soft smile of relief graced her lips and she squeezed Stephen’s wrists, both acutely ignoring the bloodstains that she left there. “Thank you.”

He snorted. “You’re the one doing the dangerous stuff. I just created the spell.”

She took the paper from his hand, glancing down at the writing. It was in a different language, but she was good at picking things up quickly. She’d be fine. She wished that she had a gun or something, some weapon to help her if she found trouble in the past. Hastily glancing to and fro about Tony’s workshop, she saw a half-made Iron Man gauntlet. Running over to it, she blew the gathered dust off the golden and red metal. It fit her hand like a glove.

Stephen raised both brows. “Don’t mess up.”

“Pep talk,” she smirked, some semblance of her lost confidence returning at his warning. “Great. I could use one of those.”

“Are you ready?” his tone garnered no argument.

She thought about what could happen if this worked, of the people that would be saved. Even as hope rose from her feet, fear trembled at her fingertips and warred for dominance of her heart.

“Are you sure this’ll work?” she whispered, ashamed of how her voice broke.

Eighteen was still too young to be a hero. She was still too lost. A lot lost, in fact, but a lot loyal and just enough stupid to try something like this, damn the consequences.

He smiled softly at her trepidation. “No. And even if it does, you might not be here to see the effects.”

Tears burned her cheeks as she turned away, eyes closing tightly. Perhaps if she didn’t see it, then it wasn’t happening. Perhaps this was all just one big bag dream that she would wake up from to the smell of bacon sizzling and her fiancés’ lovely singing.

But it wasn’t a dream, and her eyes opened all the same.

“Fury know about it?” Just to make sure. Just to make sure that there were people to be here after it all.

Stephen nodded. “He knows.”

She nodded, biting her lip to keep her sobs at bay. Later, she would contemplate how stupid and reckless (desperate) she had to be to do this and her blatant disregard for her own life. Later, when everything was okay again - because it _had_ to be – she would break down and have a panic attack about this very moment. But not in this very moment. No.

No. Right now she had to be a hero.

Stephen cupped the back of her head. “You can do this. If anyone can save the world, you can.”

“You think?” she managed, pocketing the paper and adjusting her jacket to keep from looking him in the eyes.

“Yeah,” the wizard stepped back. “It’ll all work out exactly like it’s supposed to.”

Meeting his gaze, she lifted her chin and flashed a smile. “Promise me you’ll watch out for them, okay? If I don’t make it back; They need a babysitter.”

He huffed out a laugh. They didn’t address the tears in both of their eyes. “I promise nothing.”

She nodded, the grin not reaching her eyes.

“Ready?”

“No.” she answered truthfully. “But…”

A second’s hesitation. “Whatever it takes.”

The amulet around his neck glowed green and words of a foreign tongue flowed from his lips. She felt the world around her fade away and she prayed that whatever came next, wherever she was going and whatever happened, finished with a happy ending.


	2. Elevensies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So, you’re forcing me to endure them for who knows how long? Very mature, Nick. I’m going to have Romanoff shoot me three hours in.”
> 
> She certainly didn’t mince words, whoever she was. Hopefully, her words were said in humor and not honesty. Another sarcastic rogue to their bunch would fit right in.
> 
> “Z.”
> 
> “Fine. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Entertain them for a few moments longer.” It was dripping with mockery. The voice clicked off.
> 
> Tony smirked. “She sounds delightful.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Elevensies. Wish I ate as much as a hobbit. Or, I wish it was as socially acceptable to eat as much as a hobbit. 
> 
> Second chapter! Woot woot! 
> 
> Enjoy! I only own Z!

Chapter One

_Elevensies_

Steve Rogers was not, in fact, an idiot. He may have been an artist in the forties who decided is was a grand old idea to let the government experiment on him, join the second world war, crash land a plane in the icy cold desert of the Arctic, then assemble a team of misfit heroes to save the world, save the world, save the world again, break apart the Avengers due to his best friend coming back from “death” and his own selfish desires, try to save the world again and mess that up, time travel back to get the infinity stones, then actually save the world after five years of sitting on his ass, but he was not an idiot.

He swears.

Of course, standing next to someone like Tony Stark sometimes made people doubt that. However, the man is Tony Stark. The comparison is slightly unfair.

“- The tennis racket theorem: the top can spin stably about the principal axes with the least or the greatest moments of inertia but not around the intermediate axis.” The blank faces of the immediate (unfortunate) audience of Shield agents stared back at him. “Like when you spin a tennis racket or – whatever.”

“Try not to fry their brains, Stark. I kind of need them. Budget’s been tight lately and I can’t really afford to hire new people.”

Steve couldn’t help the smile that slid across his mouth at the familiar voice. Turning, hand already outstretched in welcome, he greeted, “Good morning, Director.”

Tony grinned and bounced on his toes. “Heyah, Nick. I hope you know I’m missing brunch for this. Morgan will not be pleased.”

Fury raised a brow in his signature fashion and took the arm, giving the hero a firm handshake before nodding to Tony and stepping up to his monitors. “Clear out, agents. Debrief doesn’t include you.”

The order was followed immediately and silently. Shield really had something else. He wondered how long they had to stay in hypnosis for. Was there some kind of Nick Fury Lake Laogai where they were all trained to accept the Earth King’s invitations and murder the avatar?

He’d been spending way too much time with Peter. Or maybe not enough time. They had seven episodes before the series finale, and he _had_ to find out the ending. He should call Pete and ask if they could-.

“Rogers?” Fury’s voice cut into the image of Toph creaming the Boulder out of his head and inventing an _entirely new bending style_ and he shook his head.

“Sir?”

“Are you with us?” The Director raised that darn brow again and Steve felt like he was back in the army. “I know you’re old and everything but try and adjust your hearing aids before you come for an important meeting.”

Tony snorted. “Hey, Barton would be offended to have Rogers thrown under the bus for hearing aids. He actually needs those things.”

Fury looked at both of them like they were stupid. Which they were. “Back to the situation at hand.”

“Ah, yes,” Tony sat in one of the chairs around the circular table, harking to years ago when he and Steve had first met. Some things never changed. “Whose ass are we kicking this time?”

“Don’t get cocky, Stark.” Fury’s face lost any hint of amusement. “Thanos may have been defeated, but that doesn’t mean that you and your team are all-powerful. You ain’t God. Don’t act like him.”

Steve rolled his shoulders and crossed his arms. “What is it, Fury?”

“His name is Korvac.” The spy waved his hand and his screens lit up with holograms and projections. An image of a man wreathed in flame appeared. He glowed very unnaturally, and his hair almost broke away like the fire at the tip of a flickering candle. His eyes were white, and the pure fury written on every line of his face made Steve uneasy. “He’s a… character.”

Tony and Steve both moved closer to survey him.

“Abilities?” The billionaire asked, joking stifled in light of the threat. This wasn’t one of Fury’s little check-up meetings he had been doing lately. This was real.

“As far as we know, he has cosmic powers.” The Director explained, placing his hands behind his back. “Energy projection, matter alteration, teleportation, astral projection, and manipulation of time and space. Reality manipulation, in total. He can fuck you up.”

Steve almost growled. Thanos had been bad, but the stones were the things that actually gave him power. If this guy was as bad as Fury thought he was, they were going to need to bring out the big guns. Reality manipulation was _dangerous_.

Fury shrugged. “And of course, what good would he be if he couldn’t also fly, shoot a manner of unearthly things out of his body, and read minds. He’s a handful.”

“How do we know about him?” The soldier turned the image around, assessing their enemy.

“Strange.” Fury answered. “A few days ago while he was surveying the cosmos or whatever kind of magical shit he does, he saw a strange outburst of cosmic energy several solar systems away from ours.”

“Solar systems?” Tony blinked in surprise.

Fury nodded. “He’s fast. Strange has already begun rounding up his best to try and slow him down, but if Korvac is as powerful as we think, they won’t be able to stop him.”

“They’re just buying us time.” Steve’s jaw set. The inevitable.

Yet, Thanos had thought he too was unstoppable. Captain Marvel made sure to denounce that thought.

Carol seemed to be very good at defying expectations. The memory of Thanos’s shocked face when she wielded the gauntlet would forever be burnt into his brain. His sweetest dreams were of that exact moment.

“What do we need to do?” Tony asked, scrolling through the information about the villain. “Does he have any weaknesses, any glowing green rocks we can use to sling-shot at him?”

Fury rolled his eyes. “This isn’t a comic book, Stark. As far as any of our men can tell, he doesn’t have a weakness. That is to say, nothing besides beating the shit out of him. He isn’t invincible, but he is very strong. Think of how hard it was to put a scratch on Thanos. He’s kind of like that.”

Steve clicked his tongue. “So, we’re going to need our best people for this.”

The Director shook his head. “You’re going to need all your people for this. I will also be monitoring him and sending out all the agents I can, but I’m not sure guns are going to help against someone like this.”

“Do you have alien tech we could use?” Tony leaned forward, assessing the description of Korvac. “I have some of my own from the attack in 2012, but besides that, I’m a little dry.”

“I’ll be sending it to your Tower, Stark.” Fury’s amused smirk appeared. “I assume you’ll figure out some use for it all.”

The billionaire shrugged, a similar expression making its way onto his face. “I might know a few things.”

Steve hummed. “So we have alien tech, agents, and superheroes.”

Tony clapped his shoulder. “And we aren’t divorced this time, so the Avengers should have no trouble taking down this turd.”

Steve rolled his eyes. This man. “Don’t press our luck, Tony. Thanos was no piece of cake. We lost the first time. We have to be careful.”

As if his friend didn’t know that. As if Tony didn’t look at Peter sometimes as if he was still some kind of ghost to haunt him. As if Tony didn’t still have nightmares of his kid disappearing through his fingers.

“Is he worse?” Tony ground his teeth. “Is he worse than Thanos?”

Fury sighed. “I can’t be sure. We don’t know if your people will be enough to overpower him. This could be a simple mission that ends in a day. It could be a fight that lasts much longer than that. Since no one here knows the durability of his powers and strength, we can’t be sure of his limit or lack thereof.”

“So it’s a tossup.” Tony scowled. “We have no idea.”

“Strange knows more than I do.” Fury conceded. “He’ll have useful information.”

“Strange’ll be working with us?” the soldier asked, patting Tony on the back as he turned to Fury.

Fury nodded. “He’ll be joining you at the Tower soon enough.”

Tony raised a dark brow. “What’s he bringing to the table?”

The Director raised a brow of his own. “Besides all his research and mystic powers?”

“Yep.” He popped the “p”. Steve restrained his eyeroll.

“He has hundreds of wizards working to ensure that Korvac doesn’t just waltz into our atmosphere. He has informed me that he’s finishing his final defenses around the earth, but after he’s done, he’ll find you.”

The heroes nodded.

“Anything else you can give us?” Tony asked, leaning against the table.

Fury nodded. “My best agent will be accompanying you back to your Tower. She knows everything there is to know about Korvac. She’ll be your best asset for preparation. She’s been working with Strange for months now.”

“Hill knows about this guy?” Steve’s brows furrowed.

“Maria Hill is not who I’m talking about.” Fury pressed a button on his panel. “Z, I need you.”

“Maria Hill isn’t your best agent?” Tony’s brows scrunched in confusion. “Does she know that?”

“Shut up, Tony.”

A voice appeared, clear and bright, as if the woman talking was wearing a grin. “ _Listen, Nick, we’ve talked about this. I’m way too young for you._ ”

Instead of being annoyed, Fury acted the most un-Furylike that either hero had ever seen and almost scoffed fondly at the response. “Don’t flatter yourself, Z. I just debriefed Rogers and Stark on the Korvac situation.”

“ _Okay… why do you need me_?”

“You’re going back with them to Avengers Tower to continue debrief.”

“ _Why_?”

Fury rolled his eyes. “Because I said so.”

“ _Fine, **dad**. Geez. Let me finish up this paperwork and throw some stuff in a travel bag. I assume I’ll be staying there for a while.”_

“Yes.” The answer garnered no argument, even if the two Avengers standing right there were to disagree. “Now stop stalling and get your ass up here. I don’t want to have to entertain these idiots longer then I have to.”

“ _So, you’re forcing me to endure them for who knows how long? Very mature, Nick. I’m going to have Romanoff shoot me three hours in_.”

She certainly didn’t mince words, whoever she was. Hopefully, her words were said in humor and not honesty. Another sarcastic rogue to their bunch would fit right in.

“Z.”

“ _Fine. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Entertain them for a few moments longer_.” It was dripping with mockery. The voice clicked off.

Tony smirked. “She sounds delightful.”

Fury narrowed his eyes. “She’s one of my best, Stark. Don’t drive her to suicide.”

“How old is she?” Steve asked, crossing his arms again. She had sounded quite young. He wondered if she was Pete’s age.

“That’s classified, Rogers.” Eyepatch put his hands behind his back. “Z is one of my best operatives. She is brilliant, skilled, and could take any one of you in a fight, whether on the battlefield or in the lab.” A pointed glare was thrown at Tony. “All you really need to know about her is that she will be a necessary ally for the battle against Korvac.” 

“She sounds like she knows quite a bit.” Steve narrowed his eyes. “Has she fought him before?”

A heavy silence fell between them. A silence filled with answers that Steve didn’t feel like Fury was going to give them.

The door opened and in strolled Z.

Steve was taken aback. She was young. Very young. She did seem Peter’s age, if that, but there was something about her eyes that told stories. The kid’s eyes looked like that too – far older than you would have ever guessed for such a young face to have. The chocolate stare was mixed with gold. Her nose and cheeks were dusted with freckles. Her tanned skin was a stark contrast to her bright white hair that was cut short to her chin. Not blonde like Nat’s had been when they had been on the run, but white like snow. She was average height and had an athletic build, the black leather of her Shield uniform showing off the muscles of her arms and legs. A red scar inched up her neck from under her collar and another smaller one was overlapping one of her eyebrows, creating a separation between the hairs.

She was beautiful. Steve felt, for some unknown reason, that she and Peggy would have gotten along well.

She smiled, adjusting the bag on her shoulder. “Just so you know, the ogres on level six are misbehaving again. I think it’s Enchantress, but Simmons says I’m wrong.”

Fury didn’t miss a beat. “Did you ask Loki?”

“He’s not back from his mission with Thor yet.” She answered, shrugging. “I told Simmons to ask him, though. He’ll side with me, of course.”

Her eyes looked familiar.

“I’m sure.” The Director scoffed. “Of course, you went for the Trickster God.”

“Hey,” she pointed at him. “You’re just annoyed because he helped me turn you white for a day.”

“Never have I wanted to kill someone so badly.”

“I thought you were going to.” Z, or he presumed that’s who she was, snickered. “Oh, you were so mad.”

“Well, I couldn’t kill you.” He snapped. “And Loki’s a god. I just had to threaten to burn your _Lord of the Rings_ books and burn his helmet down for a new set of earrings for Barton’s daughter. That did the trick.”

She faked a shiver. “His face was priceless.”

Fury chuckled. _C h u c k l e d_.

Steve was so confused. They seemed so familiar with each other, almost like a brother and sister. The banter was so seamless and natural. Fury, a man of bite and cold exterior, was willingly entertaining this kid like she was his own. This kid was keeping up with mirth and grins like it was the easiest thing in the world.

It was bizarre.

She turned back to the two heroes. She looked at Tony first. A shiver ran down his spine at the identical smirk that slid across both their lips.

Great. There were two of them.

She then looked at Steve and nodded. “Mr. Stark, Captain Rogers. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Zastyvshiy.”

Tony blinked. “Mouthful.” Steve slapped his arm in reprimand.

“It’s a family name. Just Z is fine.” She replied. Her eyes flashed with glee. “I heard you were talking about the tennis racket theorem earlier.”

Tony almost vibrated with excitement.

“Well,” she waved her hands in a so-so manner. “I heard the complaints of the agents who heard you talking about it. It’s interesting. I found relatives harder, myself.”

“Really?” The genius studied her with a new gleam of interest as if he wasn’t already analyzing her before. “You must have had a good teacher. Or an awful one.”

She shrugged. “He was pretty great. He could be almost robotic at times, but other than that he was pretty fantastic.”

Steve was not an idiot. He _knew_ her eyes.

“If you’re done.” Fury looked like his eyes were going to roll back into his head with irritation. “Then you should start explaining everything you know. Do you have everything you need?”

Z winked and finger gunned her leader. “Even my toothbrush.”

“Then be on your way.” He annunciated every syllable like he was talking to a small child. “And take your gibberish with you.”

“It’s not gibberish.” She stuck her tongue out. “It’s physics.”

Steve smiled. “Gibberish.”

Tony and Z glared at him. Man, it was like seeing double.

“Report back daily,” Fury ordered. “And call if you need anything.”

“You sound like her dad,” Tony remarked, snorting. “You keeping something from us, Fury? Some affair you’re having? Or was she dropped on your doorstep when she was three and you had to raise her in the ways of the spy?”

Z scoffed. “Coming from the man who named the safety measures in Spiderman’s suit the ‘Baby Monitor Protocol’.”

Leave it to Shield to know all your secrets, including protocols you put in your pseudo-son-protégé-figure’s super suit.

“Touché.” Tony narrowed his eyes playfully.

Geez, the team was not going to be happy that the two geniuses were already getting along so well. Tony was hard enough to stand as it was.

“Go.” Fury placed a hand on Z’s shoulder. “And tell Strange. He’ll want to know.”

She nodded, and something passed between them. Then she crossed back through the two heroes and towards the hallway that led to the elevator.

Steve blinked.

Tony moved to stand next to him. “You okay, Spangles?”

Down the hall, Z called, “Coming, boys?”

“Your eyes,” Steve answered. “She had your eyes.”

They followed, and somehow each of his footfalls felt like they were stepping stones to something that none of them were ready for. He just hoped that it finished with a happy ending.


	3. Some Courage and Some Wisdom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Z nodded slowly. “Korvac isn’t just some villain. He isn’t scared of wasting lives. He doesn’t care if you’re an infant or an elder. He doesn’t care if you pledge your allegiance to him or if you’re his greatest enemy. It doesn’t matter to him.”
> 
> Her knuckles were turning white as she tightened her clasped hands. “I lost. I lost everything to Korvac. He took my home, my friends. My family. He won’t stop. There’s no bargaining with him. We have to stop him.”
> 
> “Do you think we can?”
> 
> Steve wasn’t an idiot, no matter how much Tony teased him about it. With that question, he was leveling himself. He was asking the girl who’d fought this monster, who’d lost everything to him, who had barely escaped with her life and who had pulled herself out of the depths of Hell to survive. He was asking for an honest answer.
> 
> A hesitant smile edged at her lips. “Captain Rogers, you guys are the Avengers. If anyone can stop him, it’s you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all!  
> Enjoy Chapter 2! 
> 
> I only own Z. 
> 
> "There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure."   
>  \- Thorin Oakenshield, The Hobbit.

Chapter Two

_Some Courage and Some Wisdom_

She was something else, that was for sure.

“So, how heavy is the shield?”

Tony blinked at the girl. His eyes had been twitching with the want to analyze her like she was some science project since she had walked into that room with her chin held high and a twinkling light in her eyes that told him she was trouble, but the best kind of it. Steve was right, she did have Tony’s eyes or at least a shade of brown very similar to his eyes. They had speckles of gold around the pupil, making her irises glitter every time the sun peeked out from around a cloud. Her bright red lipstick accented her playful smile and Tony found it hard not to smile back at her; He had the same problem with Peter.

He glanced at her again. Every minute that passed with her made him match more and more similarities between the two.

Steve chuckled. “It’s about twelve pounds or so, give or take how tired I am.”

Tony groaned internally at the fossil’s attempt at humor. However, it seemed to work on Z.

Her mouth opened in surprise. “Really? Only twelve pounds? I could lift that!”

The super soldier shrugged. “It’s not that heavy.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Not until you have to throw it mid-battle while aliens are trying to implant eggs in your esophagus.”

Z snorted. “Have that problem a lot, do you?”

The elevator door opened to the Helicarrier’s landing bay. The Quinjet shined to their left, and the trio began to walk towards it, occasionally nodding to passing agents they knew. Z seemed to know everyone, and everyone seemed to know Z. Even agents that Tony knew had been a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. for years nodded respectfully to the kid as she passed. She had to have been part of the organization for ages.

Or she had done some serious shit to get where she was.

He’d find out. Tony Stark always got what he wanted.

That last one was a lie.

“So… Z, if that is your real nickname,” Tony began dubiously as they walked up to the ramp to the Quinjet. “How long you been a part of S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

Steve hit his arm. “Stop prying.” And then to their companion: “You don’t have to answer. Tony just can’t help not knowing things. He’s nosy.”

“Curious.” The inventor snapped back.

Z laughed, the sound making Tony’s heart clench. It was a distinctly delightful sound, the kind of sound that chased monsters away and made the sun come out again. “I don’t mind, Captain Rogers. I’d love to play a round of twenty questions with Mister Stark. Honestly, it’s an honor to meet both of you.”

Tony smirked, feathers bristling at the praise. “Well, well, it seems we have a fan in our midst, Capcicle.”

An ebony brow rose, the black so drastic from her hair color. “Not so much a fan as someone appreciative of your world-saving efforts.” She amended. “As someone who was dusted, I owe you all my life.”

Something passed across her eyes then. She was quick to cover it up or push whatever emotions were trying to escape down, but Tony was the master of doing just that, and he saw it. He didn’t know what it was, but it ignited an intrigued fire inside him. Z was quickly becoming a mystery that Tony was dedicating himself to solving. Perhaps Peter could be his Watson and he could don his deerstalker hat and together they could unravel the riddle that was Agent Zastyvshiy.

“You don’t have to thank us,” Steve immediately answered gently.

She tilted her head as the bay door closed slowly behind them. “You’re just like everyone says you are, aren’t you?”

The hero raised a curious brow. “I’m not sure; what do they say I am?”

“Old.” Tony offered, not very comfortable with he emotionally charged air around the pair. He had gotten much better and dealing with feelings since he’d married Pepper and Morgan was born, and then of course when he got Peter back, but strangers and emotions were still… iffy. “Old and grey and stupid.”

Z wasn’t grinning, but she wasn’t frowning either. Instead, her face took on a very satisfied expression, eyes doing the smiling that her mouth was not. “Kind.”

Tony narrowed his eyes. This kid was smart, and she was nice?

Steve chuckled. “Well, if that’s what everyone’s saying about me, then I don’t mind that.”

Z nodded, smirk reappearing as they walked further into the jet. Steve sat in the pilot’s seat, already prepping for takeoff. “It’s not hard to believe either. I’ve read your report, sir. It’s inspiring.”

The billionaire was a bit miffed that this kid was hanging all over Cap. Where was his attention? “What about that dusty report Fury has is inspiring?”

She met Tony’s eyes as he leaned against the front console. “He was a hero before he was strong, Mister Stark. Before he got powers or whatever – the super-soldier serum – he was a good man. That’s what mattered.”

Her words carried weight. Both heroes knew it.

Tony clicked his tongue again, rapping his knuckles against the chair he wasn’t sitting in. “So, what? You don’t have powers and it’s inspiring because you can still be a hero? Pretty sure your intense training counts as powers on its own. God knows Natasha has powers. Scary ones.”

Z huffed out a silent laugh. “Nope. No powers. I can cook a mean lasagna, though. My dad’s old recipe.”

Finally, some backstory. “Your dad?” Tony asked, bursting with childish glee. Some answers at last.

Steve went to slap his arm again, but he shied away from the reprimand. If she was going to be working with them on something so important, they deserved to know a little bit about her. Steve might be fine with trusting people blindly, but Tony was not. Fury trusted her, yeah, but that wasn’t enough for him. Back in their early days, the Director had been planning on making weapons with an Infinity Stone.

Tony wasn’t sure that Nick Fury was high on his list of “people to trust without question”.

Z, however, didn’t seem to mind. She crossed her arms and leaned against the plane’s side as they began moving towards the takeoff strip. “Yep.” She popped the ‘p’. “Ask away, Mister Stark. I’ll answer what I can.”

Perfect. Whatever she didn’t tell him he could find by himself anyway. “Who’s your dad.”

“His name was Anton Zastyvshiy, and no, you won’t find his name on anything you want to search him or me on, sir,” she answered with a cheeky smile. Damn it.

“He died about three years ago while on a mission.” Must have been after they reversed the Snap then. “Russian, brown eyes and red hair. He was handsome, people tell me. I was dropped on his doorstep when I was about three. He was in S.H.I.E.L.D. from about the time I was six years old, and he trained me to do everything I know how to do.”

“He sounds like a cool dude,” Tony replied, trying to not be insensitive. He was sarcastic, not a jerk. Dead parents were a soft spot for anyone. He couldn’t imagine losing his parents at such a young age. Even at forty-one, he had been a mess when his parents died.

“He was the best.” She chuckled, looking down at her feet for a second. “He was a good man. No matter what we were doing, I was still his little girl. Mission, debrief, stakeouts – it didn’t matter. He would still call me nicknames and braid my hair. I was never a soldier to him. I was just his princess.”

There was something precious in that little confession, something close and dear to Z’s heart that Tony wasn’t sure he should have trodden on.

Eager to move on before he stumbled into overly emotional territory, he looked away and asked, “What about your mom?”

Z laughed; the sound was laced with bitterness. “My mother was a Hydra agent.”

“What?” Steve asked loudly, just as they took off the Helicarrier and into the sky. The change was seamless.

Tony was shocked too. “Your dad was a dedicated S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and your mom was a Hydra agent? How did that work out?”

“My dad was kidnapped,” she answered. “Or, that’s what people tell me. However it happened, it wasn’t consensual on his part. But my dad being my dad, he couldn’t just throw me out or give me up when she abandoned me.” She shrugged. “So, he took me in and raised me on his own. I’ve been working with S.H.I.E.L.D. ever since he joined. Started learning the barrel of a gun real early.”

Tony wasn’t sure how he felt about that statement but plowed on all the same. “Is she dead?”

Z nodded. “About five years ago.”

“I’m sorry,” Steve muttered.

“I’m not.” She retorted firmly. “She was an awful woman. She tried to have me killed more times than I can count.”

Well, that was delightful. “Parents can be like that.”

She snorted, the heavy air lightening with the breathy laughter. “Yeah, they can.”

“Any other family?” Tony asked quietly, his smug curiosity slowly waning to make a place for genuine interest. This wasn’t just some kid who decided to become a spy. This was a girl who had suffered and still chose to be a proponent of good in the world.

She paused for a moment. “No. Nobody else.”

The ‘ _I’m alone_ ’ hidden in her silence wasn’t mentioned.

“Fury seems to like you.” Steve offered. “I’ve never seen him so affectionate.”

Z nodded. “Yeah, he owes my dad. Only reason he’s still looking out for me. Not that I mind. It’s nice having someone care.”

Tony thought of Edwin Jarvis, the first person in his life who he believed gave an honest to God damn about him and what knowing that felt like. He remembered how he always felt so loved when the dear butler ruffled his hair or helped patch up a scraped knee. He remembered the fire in Jarvis’s gaze after Howard hit Tony. He remembered wishing one night, nursing a bruised cheek, that Edwin was his father. Even after Howard turned his parenting techniques around after surviving the assassination attempt in 1991, Tony still found himself going to Edwin whenever he felt old insecurities creeping up on him.

Edwin would have been a good father.

“Yeah. Yeah, it is.”

The silence that followed the admission was a comfortable one. Tony was happy to rest inquiries for the time being, at least until the thirty-minute flight was over, and was surprised when Steve offered up another question.

“What’s your favorite weapon?”

Z, who had seated herself by that point, looked up from her book. She glanced around in thought for a few seconds. “Probably quarterstaff. Makes me feel like Aang. That name probably doesn’t have any-”

Steve’s entire face lit up. “You’ve seen Avatar: The Last Airbender?”

Her face did the same weird firework thing and she grinned like a child. “ _You’ve_ seen Avatar: The Last Airbender?!”

The soldier laughed. “I haven’t finished it yet. Peter and I are watching it together.”

Z’s brows furrowed in intrigued delight. “Captain America and Spiderman watch cartoons together? That’s golden. Does White Wolf join you? Do you guys have marathon nights with popcorn and everything?”

Tony knew she meant it in jest, but it was true, and the fond memories of Tower Nights filtered through his brain. Tower Tuesdays were an event. All the Avengers and Co. gathered in the large living area on the penthouse floor and queued up a movie. The billionaire ordered theater popcorn covered in salt and butter, they all gathered around the TV together, huddled on couches and chairs or curled up on the floor. It was several hours of laughter and love that Tony could sometimes hardly believe that he had.

Steve smiled warmly. “Bucky’s aloof, but he always has time for Avatar.”

“As one should.” She replied instantly, nodding with mock severity.

“Man, Peter is going to love you,” Tony groaned. “MJ’s going to have some competition.”

Z choked, coughing rather spectacularly. “S-sorry! Something got caught in my throat.” As she calmed down, a smirk fell across her lips. “Spiderboy has a girlfriend?”

Tony rolled his eyes. “As if you didn’t know that.”

“I didn’t.” She answered. “S.H.I.E.L.D. may have, but I didn’t. I’m not Romanoff, Mister Stark. I don’t know everything about everyone.”

Her eyes glinted. Man, if he wasn’t careful, he’d have another kid by the end of the week.

“But…” Steve paused for a moment as if he was deciding whether or not to break the happy atmosphere. “You do know about Korvac.”

It wasn’t a question. Z seemed to realize that. Her face darkened and the youth that should have filled her fell away to make room for an age that she shouldn’t have possessed. Like whenever someone asked Peter about his parents without knowing, the gaze that should have been filled with the light of a teenager’s energy was doused by memories of pain and loss. Z’s eyes became hard, her smile disappeared. Even her shoulders fell back against the wall, as if the weight of her knowledge was a physical thing.

She looked so much older, like that. Her white hair fell slightly into her face as she turned away and her brows lowered in guarded fury. “Korvac is a parasite.” Her voice was laced with poison, each syllable so different from her jovial tone from just a few minutes prior.

Tony swallowed. “Fury told us about his known abilities.”

She scoffed bitterly. “Reality manipulation? Yeah. He can make you see some crazy stuff.”

“Like?” The billionaire pushed. They needed answers, no matter how painful it would be for her to relive the memories.

She seemed to understand. “The people you love dying. Things burning, buildings exploding. Innocent citizens being killed. That’s usually his first strategy. If he can break your mind early on so you doubt everything you see, then it’s pretty easy to kill you off. If that doesn’t work, he’ll use his strength.” Z glared, but her anger wasn’t directed at either hero. “Cosmic powers and all that. I didn’t fight Thanos, but I’ve seen the footage. Korvac will be just as difficult.”

The 'maybe worse' wasn’t stated. Tony heard it.

“The reading your mind part always annoyed me.” She huffed. “But he can’t read more than one mind at once. He also hates tabby cates. Not sure why.”

“That seems like a personal piece of information.” Steve’s eyes narrowed.

“Oh, don’t get all high and mighty,” she snapped. “Mister Stark here had Loki over to his Tower for a drink in the middle of a battle.”

Tony might have smirked at her snark had the situation been different. “So you’ve fought him?”

Her eyes darkened even further, the chocolate and gold turning almost to black. “Yeah.”

“How did you beat him?” Steve asked.

Tony wanted to roll his eyes.

“We didn’t,” she replied. “We lost.”

“But you’re alive.”

Tony did roll his eyes.

“Stephen pulled me out at the last second,” Z explained solemnly. “We’d been fighting him for two weeks-,”

“Two weeks?” Steve blinked. “It took you all two weeks?”

Z’s anger blazed. “We didn’t have the Avengers, Captain Rogers. Not every planet is lucky enough to have a group of superheroes with tons of money and enough to take down a mad Titan on their weekend off.”

Something burned in her eyes. The fire there looked much older than Z was.

“And you didn’t win.”

Tony didn’t know where that assumption came from, but the moment she met his eyes he knew he was right. There was such heavy loss in those dark hues. That haunted gaze brought back memories of his own – watching his mother’s heart monitor flatline, Howard’s contented smile as he slipped away in his sleep, Yinsen’s final words, Peter grasping at him as he faded into nothing, tears in his eyes and apology on his lips. Each person he lost, each loved one that he couldn’t save, weighed on Tony like Atlas holding up the sky. Tony had once thought he’d lost his parents at twenty-one after the assassination attempt; he couldn’t imagine what it was like for people like Z and Peter, who had lost so many so young.

There was a connection between the two, and at that moment, Tony knew that whoever Z was, whatever happened, he was going to do his damned best to help her.

Z looked down. “No. No, we didn’t.”

“Who was with you?”

She swallowed, shoulders falling even farther with her heavy sigh. “My best friend…Well, they were all my friends. Four of them were supers – powers and all that. Two scientists: engineering and biochemical – the brains of the operation. One spy and a robot.”

Z listed them off like reading off the list for Death Row. Tony knew he couldn’t push for names. He wouldn’t do that to her. Part of him already knew the answer, but he prayed even against his sound judgment that he was wrong.

He asked. “What happened?”

Raising her head, she stared out into the open sky, golden flecks not as bright as moments before.

“Gone.”

Steve and Tony both closed their eyes tightly. “I’m so sorry.” The soldier whispered.

Z nodded slowly. “Korvac isn’t just some villain. He is dangerously powerful and very good at getting into your head. He lit my house of fire and planned on roasting me alive inside it while he cut off my teammates’ heads and put them on spikes to display on my balcony. He wants to watch his enemies suffer. Thanos snapped and then left half of the population to their own devices. By no means was Thanos merciful, don’t get me wrong, but the Thanos that attacked first, the one from the right timeline… he was a villain, yes. But he wasn’t diabolical. In some morbid way, he had convinced himself that destroying half of the Earth’s people would help. Korvac has no such morality. He isn’t scared of wasting lives. He doesn’t care if you’re an infant or an elder. He doesn’t care if you pledge your allegiance to him or if you’re his greatest enemy. It doesn’t _matter_ to him.”

Her knuckles were turning white as she tightened her clasped hands. “I lost. I lost everything to Korvac. He took my home, my friends. My family. He won’t stop. There’s no bargaining with him. We have to stop him.”

“Do you think we can?”

Steve wasn’t an idiot, no matter how much Tony teased him about it. With that question, he was leveling himself. He was asking the girl who’d fought this monster, who’d lost everything to him, who had barely escaped with her life and who had pulled herself out of the depths of Hell to survive. He was asking for an honest answer.

A hesitant smile edged at her lips. “Captain Rogers, you guys are the Avengers. If anyone can stop him, it’s you.”

Tony reveled in the blind faith she was putting in them. It was the same faith that Peter put in him. It was a precious thing. Even at nineteen, Peter still looked at him like he’d hung the stars in the sky. Somewhere in this hardened spy, this bloodstained agent, there was still a kid who wanted nothing more than to get a happy ending.

She was going to get it. On his life, he was going to get it for her.

“We will,” Tony promised. “We will beat him, Z.”

Her eyes flashed and Tony knew her. In a split second, those eyes could have been Morgan’s. His little girl’s, adorable and crinkled in a grin. And full of -

Hope. There was hope in her eyes.

He wondered how long it had been since she’d had hope.

“I’ll hold you to that, Mister Stark.”

Her grin resurfaced, and his triumphant smirk with it.

“I’m counting on it.”

Minutes later, when they landed at the Tower and advanced into one of the large conference rooms, Z’s confidence returned with full force. She walked through the halls like she owned the place, like she belonged there. As Tony and Steve summoned the Avengers, she seated herself at the head of the table.

“Alright,” she smirked. “Let’s get started.”


End file.
